Chapter 14
The third night at Club Voyeur is less shocking than the first two. Although I do feel the center of attention as I walk arm in arm with Gavin toward his private booth, I quickly make peace with the knowledge that some of those staring at us know me a whole lot better than I’d like them to. They saw what they saw, and were fascinated by it in some way. Perhaps it aroused them, or maybe it was simply that if what Gavin said is true and he’s never fucked anyone in the club, they were finally getting a glimpse at something very private.
As for me, I’m a nobody. Simply the girl he was with, whose face they won’t remember next week. And if they do, it’s not like they can tell anyone without serious consequences.
But while I have the attention of everyone else, Gavin’s seems to be far away.
Tonight, Erik put me in a slinky silver dress with a low-cut neckline.
“Mr. Alexander wants you in something easy to take off. And of course, your pony. What is it with that man?” Erik asked when he came up to the penthouse earlier.
“I don’t know.” I touched my hair and pulled it forward to stare at the golden ends.
In just the few days that Erik has been styling it, it seems healthier. Shinier.
“Some men have kinks. Guess that’s his,” he says.
I was sure Gavin would pounce on me the moment he picked me up at the penthouse. He didn’t. Instead, he barely lifted his gaze to me as he brushed passed and went into the shower.
It shouldn’t have bothered me that he didn’t give me so much as a second glance, but it did. I peered in the mirror and wondered if perhaps whatever fascinated him about me was gone. Maybe he’d gotten his fill before the week was even over. Maybe my outburst yesterday morning precipitated the inevitable. No one likes playing with a broken toy. Same goes for fantasies.
He wanted me to look at him while we fucked. I couldn’t.
Or could it have been our conversation this morning about the birth control? Did I offend him somehow?
While he didn’t mention it the rest of the day, I couldn’t help but notice a shift in him. The way he observed me, like he was searching for the crack in my exterior. I was under a microscope and it made me aware of every single flaw he’d expose. Apparently, there were a lot.
“I can stay in if you’d like,” I offered when he came out of the bedroom dressed in a black suit and silver tie that matched my dress, looking like the insanely sexy business tycoon he is.
For the first time since he arrived home he seemed to actually see me. He raked me from toes to head, his eyes zeroing in on my glossy red lips. “There’s no way in hell I’m leaving you behind.”
“I just thought?—”
“We had a deal, Miss Burrows. Are you going back on that?” He was genuinely annoyed by my suggestion.
“N-no.”
“Good. Let’s go. I have a guest arriving at the club shortly.” Grabbing me firmly by the hand, he escorted me to the elevator.
“Who’s coming to see you?” I asked him as we descended.
“An interested buyer. I’m selling one of the buildings at the end of the strip.”
I was shocked to see the heightened level of security when the elevator doors opened. If there had been three or four guards the other nights, now there are at least ten. Inside the club is no different, with several men dressed in black suits, that while elegant, are very obviously uniform. Black tie, black shirt, black shoes, and a black mic hanging from their ears.
“Is the man you’re expecting dangerous?” I ask as he allows me to slide into the booth before him.
He peers at me with a curious mix of intensity and distance, as if he’s both here and somewhere far away. Then he blinks and his expression relaxes a bit. “You mean who I’m meeting here.”
I frown. Who else would I mean? “Is everything okay?”
“Everything is great.” He tugs his phone from his pocket and checks his messages. “Fucking great.”
We remain in a somewhat uneasy silence as we watch the acts taking place on the three stages. It’s definitely not like it was before, not in the least. The sensual vibe that permeates this place is hitting an invisible wall that surrounds us. A wall made of tension.
Gavin is completely absent, and I’m not so sure it’s only what happened between us that’s changed him. There’s something more.
When I can’t stand the silence anymore, I finally say what I rehearsed all day, “I’d like to apologize for what happened yesterday morning. It’s just, I haven’t had much time for a sex life since Lola was born. I try not to get intimate and what you wanted from me seemed very intimate.”
His brows pinch tightly together, but just as he’s about to reply, his gaze shifts to something beyond me. Everything about his demeanor changes, going from terse to at ease in the blink of an eye. “Ah, there he is now.”
Gavin takes my hand and helps me out of the booth, then he tugs me toward a group of men that have just entered the club.
The first thing I notice are the gaudy suits made from shinny fabrics in deep jewel tones—purple, teal, and rust. Thick gold chains drape from their necks and almost every one of them is sporting diamond earrings.
The second thing I notice is that they’re all guards, there for the single man standing between them.
But that’s not what has me gasping as we near. I’m accustomed to loudly dressed people that are heavily guarded. This is Las Vegas after all.
No, what has my lungs seizing up as if I’ve somehow breathed in lead, is the short man in the middle. The heavily guarded one. The one with the three gold teeth.
The one whose face and stink I’ll have forever engraved in my mind.
My feet dig into the carpet and Gavin turns to me, his brow arched in question.
I open my mouth to speak, maybe to scream, but nothing comes out because my heart is lodged in my throat.
Gavin tilts his head and narrows his gaze, intensifying it as he scrutinizes me. “What is it, Andie?”
“Mr. Alexander, thank you so much for hosting us,” the short man says as they approach us.
Before turning to them, Gavin plasters on a huge smile. “Johnny Rusk. You made it.”
They shake hands in that way that equals do, or perhaps rivals. With strength and confidence.
Even though Gavin towers over Johnny’s rotund form, he still manages to maintain an air of arrogance about him. Their gazes lock for a moment, then almost as if in slow motion, Johnny shifts his attention to me.
I want to melt into the floor and disappear. Or at the very least, hide behind Gavin. But I can’t breathe, much less move, as his eyes make contact with mine.
His lips pull up in that same salacious grin I recall too well, the one that haunted me for years. I had finally managed to suppress the memory of him enough to pretend I’d erased it. I could only hear his laughter and see his face when I let my guard down.
Now, he’s here in front of me, and there’s nothing I can do but stare at my nightmare come to life.
He hasn’t changed one bit. I haven’t much either.
Does he recognize me? It’s been over ten years.
“And this is..?” Johnny asks, his gaze trailing over me, touching me too intimately.
Gavin’s hand tenses around mine as he looks from him to me. “My girlfriend, Anderson.”
I barely register what Gavin’s said. All I’m aware of is the evil amusement in Johnny’s eyes. If there was any doubt in my mind that he recognized me before, it’s gone now. He definitely knows who I am.
“So nice to meet you, Andie.” He extends his hand to me, and I stare at it. When he brings it closer, I let out an almost inaudible yelp.
Gavin wraps his arm around my shoulder and brings me into his side tighter. “I’m so sorry, my friend, but no one is allowed to touch what belongs to me. It’s a rule of mine.”
“It was just a greeting.” Johnny snatches his hand back when Gavin takes a small step toward him. “Ah, so sorry about that.”
“You’re not a regular here and would have no way of knowing. But now you do.” The last is said in a low tone, one that carries a hefty load of warning. One that says, touch her, and die.
They go into a casual conversation about business, the casino he wants to buy and the club. They’re nothing more than meaningless words to me, not because I can’t understand, but because the drumming of my heart is so loud in my ears, I can barely hear them.
It doesn’t matter that we haven’t moved, that the space between us remains the same. I can feel Johnny getting closer somehow, his presence looming. He towers over me, until his face is all that fills my vision and his sour scent invades my nostrils, making me sick to my stomach.
My legs weaken and the dim lights are suddenly too bright. I lean against Gavin and take deep breaths.
He peers down at me. “What’s wrong?”
I smile up at him. “Yeah, um… The wine… I don’t drink often. I’m going to splash some water on my face.”
His brows pinch together as he takes in my features, but before he can say anything, I tear myself from his grasp and head to the ladies’ restroom.
It takes every ounce of self-control not to sprint when I can sense Johnny’s gaze on my back. It wouldn’t help if I did. Regardless of how fast I could move, he’ll always be there, in front of me.
There are certain monsters you can’t outrun.